He took it like a lizard takes its young.......

  That is, he took it with a severe grip, intending to destroy it. This is because the lizard guards its eggs from vermin, and when its young hatch from the eggs, it mistakes them for some of the snakes of the earth, so it takes its young, one after another, and kills it, and only the fugitive escapes from it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some of the closest English equivalents are:

To come down on someone like a ton of bricks.

Meaning: To pounce on them with extreme violence.

To tear someone apart.

Meaning: To kill or attack them cruelly.

To show no mercy.

Meaning: To show no mercy.

To destroy someone mercilessly.

And if the meaning of harm inflicted on a relative or someone undeserving is intended:

Like a beast turning on its own young.

And the closest explanatory translation of the proverb is:

He attacked him with ruthless and destructive force.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

أي أخذه أخذة شديدة أراد بها هلكته، وذلك أن الضب يحرس بيضه عن الهوام فإذا خرجت أولاده من البيض ظنها بعض أحناش الأرض فجعل يأخذ ولده، واحداً بعد واحد ويقتله فلا ينجو منه إلا الشريد.